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. 2022 Dec 6;10(12):2463.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10122463.

The Effect of Child Trauma on the Relation between Psychological Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms in Chilean University Students

Paulina Barros  1 , Rodrigo Assar  2 , Alberto Botto  1   3 , Caroline Leighton  1   3 , Yamil Quevedo  1   3 , Juan Pablo Jiménez  1   3
Affiliations

The Effect of Child Trauma on the Relation between Psychological Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms in Chilean University Students

Paulina Barros et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: There is consistent evidence of the impact of early adverse experiences on mental health in adulthood, especially as a risk factor for depression. However, their influence on positive aspects of mental health such as well-being has been less extensively studied. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of traumatic childhood experiences on the relationship between depression and psychological well-being in a sample of university students. (2) Methods: The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-IA), and Ryff's psychological well-being scale were administered to 700 Chilean university students. Several regression models were used to analyze the interaction between variables, with multivariate SEM being applied to hierarchize the relationships found. (3) Results: Emotional Neglect and Abuse stand out as the types of maltreatment with the greatest impact on mental health, associated first with a decrease in the self-acceptance dimension of psychological well-being and then with depressive symptomatology in adulthood. (4) Conclusions: Results provide evidence that early trauma has an important impact on mental health, increasing the risk of depression, however, its impact is greater on positive aspects of health, such as self-acceptance, a fundamental element in the construction of psychological well-being.

Keywords: childhood trauma; depression; mental health; psychological well-being scale.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Ryff score as a function of BDI score. The straight red line marks the linear tendency and red circles the (BDI,Ryff) scores classed as outliers. Red points below the straight line belong to individuals whose Ryff score is too low for the BDI that they exhibit, while those over the straight line represent individuals with excessively high Ryff levels.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Models and residuals for the BDI and Ryff scores. (a) Diagrams of linear regression results for the BDI as a function of CTQ emotional dimensions and sex, Ryff as a function of CTQ emotional dimensions, and Ryff as a function of the BDI. (b) Linear regression for Ryff as a function of CTQ emotional dimensions, BDI, and sex. In the rows, we show coeff.(signif.) values, with notation: 0 *** 0.001 ** 0.01 * 0.05. (a) Diagram: Ryff as a function of the BDI. (b) Diagram: Ryff as a function of the BDI and emtional dimensions of CTQ. (c) Residuals: Ryff as a function of the BDI. (d) Residuals: Ryff as a function of the BDI and emtional dimensions of CTQ.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of structural equation modeling for Ryff and BDI. Emotional dimensions of CTQ define a latent variable that we labeled CTQ Emotional. We show results for linear models using coeff.(signif.) values, with notation: 0 *** 0.001 ** 0.01.
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